About a month ago I posted a couple of photos of some scruffy/tassley felt samples in more neutral/bolder colour schemes. The black one I’d made inspired me to make up some batts of various grey blends. Luckily (or not?) I’d got a load of grey tops in some Botany Lap Waste, but after recent experiences, thought I’d better make some samples! I had 4 shades of what felt like Merino tops, so I started with them. As it turned out, the felted just like Merino tops!

The next one I tried felt like nice soft natural wool tops, it was a ‘humbug’ blend, which I usually associate with Jacob, but it felt much softer and looked as if there might be some ‘other’ fibres blended in too. I guessed at black viscose. There wasn’t much and it wasn’t any more obvious after felting, but it made a nice piece:

Often the tops in the Botany lap waste are the end of blend runs and custom orders. I think I got the leftovers from someone’s huge grey order, which was mostly fine, but there were some strange blends, like natural greys with nylon, and this next one which was a natural grey with a purpley Angelina sparsely blended in. You couldn’t see it at all afterwards though:

This is it flipped over:

It felted really quickly, was really soft, but also had quite a curl/wave to it, the shade of grey reminded me of Suffolk, but it didn’t feel like it. This is it held up at the window:

And a close up:

And just because there’s been so much grey in this post, a nice colourful bluey green piece:

How do you mark these samples when you’re not sure what’s in them? The last brown one looks a lot like gotland. Of course my favorite is the blue green piece. Will you make another sample with the scrap yarn?

Hmm, I hadn’t thought of that, usually I know what the sample is made from to label it. They will probably just go in a box of pieces for cutting up anyway. I’ve labeled the bags of tops as Botany lap waste, and I’ve kept the non felting stuff separate now, so hopefully I’ll just remember that if it’s in with the other tops, it’ll felt 🙂 I think that scrap yarn will get added to something and become a brooch.